Mycobacterium pinnipedii | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Bacteria |
Phylum: | Actinomycetota |
Class: | Actinomycetia |
Order: | Mycobacteriales |
Family: | Mycobacteriaceae |
Genus: | Mycobacterium |
Species: | M. pinnipedii
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Binomial name | |
Mycobacterium pinnipedii Cousins et al. 2003,[1] ATCC BAA-688
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Mycobacterium pinnipedii is a member of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex which primarily infects seals. It is a slowly growing Mycobacterium. The species is named after the Pinnipeds, the organisms from which M. pinnipedii was first isolated.[1]
In 2014, a genetic study showed that Peruvian human skeleton dating to 1000 CE had been infected with a form of tuberculosis most closely related to M. pinnipedii, suggesting that seals had served as a vector for transmission of tuberculosis from the Old World to the New.[2]